You're Still the One Read Free Page A

time."
                  Katie said his last half under her breath, causing Rick to narrow his gaze. She'd never said anything less than supportive about Grace before.
                  "He knows he made a stupid mistake and he's trying to fix it. He was doing well in his new job."
                  "If Grace went willingly, and it sounds like she did, there's really nothing you can do."
                  "I've got to find her."
                  "She'll come home. She always does."
                  She stared at him, her eyes huge in a face gone pale as chalk. "Tommy said he could disappear, invent whole new identities for both of them. He can do it Rick. The FBI said it was a fluke they ever traced him to that computer scam in the first place. But running isn't the answer. Tommy should confront the problem, not spend his life looking over his shoulder. Or forcing Grace to do the same."
                  Anger blunted her words. "I don't know if I should believe Tommy or not, but can I afford not to? I've got to find Grace and help her, in case Tommy is telling the truth about the mob being after him. I can't just turn my back on her."
                  She never had been able to, and Rick knew she probably never would. Due to the death of their mother when Katie was fourteen and Grace was eleven, Katie had taken on the role of mother rather than sister.
                  "I went to the police," she said. "They said there was nothing they could do. But I remembered that your uncle Wayne was with the FBI and he worked organized crime." Her gaze, pleading and somber, locked with his. "That's why I came here."
                  Besides his uncle, Rick had other contacts in the FBI. Which was why he knew the mob was moving into Oklahoma. "Why doesn't Tommy just go to the FBI himself?"
                  "He doesn't have any evidence yet."
                  "Katie--"
                  "He told me he snatched Henderson's computer on the way out of town, that he's going to get the evidence off of there, but right now he doesn't have it."
                  "Tommy's parole officer can go after him. Have you contacted that person?"
                  "Not yet."
                  "We'll do that." Rick made another note. "The more people looking, the more pressure, the better chance of finding them."
                  "So you'll help me?" The hope in her voice, her face, latched on to his conscience.
                  He knew he should pass this case off, but he couldn't.
                  She'd been his first love. That connection would always be there, always mean something.
                  Bottom line - Rick had never been able to turn his back on her.
                  "Please say you'll help me." Kit's voice rasped. "You know how to find people. I don't. Please, Rick."
                  Her whispered plea raked up memories of another whisper.
                  I can't marry you . I want a partner, not a master.
                  She had always equated his proposal to giving up her independence. Ten years ago, Rick had been exactly what she didn't need. Or want. Resentment burned through him as he ran a hand over his face. And yet... Katie needed his help. Their past shouldn't matter. He wouldn't let it. "Yes, I'll help you."

 
    CHAPTER 2
     
                  Relief washed through her, and Katie let out the breath she'd been holding. "Thank you. Where do we start?"
                  Something sharp flickered in Rick's eyes, and she was painfully reminded of their ending, the last time they'd seen each other. Regret flared, but she squelched it. Breaking things off with him had been best for both of them. She refused, as she had for the last ten years, to second-guess that